Skkn cấp tỉnh developing reading comprehension skills for high school students in english according to the orientation of the national high school graduation exam 2025

Name of the initiative: Developing reading comprehension skills for high school students in English according to the orientation of the National High School Graduation Exam 2025 2.. Nece

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 Name of the initiative: Developing reading comprehension skills for high school students in English according to the orientation of the National High School Graduation Exam 2025

2 Necessity and purpose of the implementation of the initiative:

2.1 Necessity of the initiative:

In the context of international integration and educational reform,developing English reading comprehension skills for high school students plays

a vital role, especially as the 2025 National High School Graduation Examcontinues to emphasize deep and diverse comprehension abilities These skillsenable students to grasp main ideas, locate information, make inferences,understand vocabulary in context, and identify the author’s intent

Practicing effective reading strategies such as skimming, scanning, andinference not only helps students manage their time and boost confidence duringexams but also improves their overall English proficiency Enhanced readingcomprehension expands vocabulary, strengthens understanding of complexsentence structures, and contributes to long-term academic and career success

Based on years of teaching experience and exam analysis, I propose the

project “Developing reading comprehension skills for high school students in English according to the orientation of the National High School Graduation Exam 2025” to improve students’ test performance and overall language

competence

2.2 Purpose of implementing the initiative:

This initiative aims to enhance the teaching and learning of Englishreading comprehension for high school students in line with the 2025 NationalHigh School Graduation Exam It helps students develop quick reading, deepunderstanding, reasoning, and main idea identification in various text types.Additionally, it supports teachers in adopting effective methods, usingtechnology, and diversifying materials As a result, students improve both examperformance and practical English skills, fostering sustainable languagedevelopment

3 Subjects of study:

- Teachers inside and outside Nong Cong 1 High school

- Grade 12 students of Nong Cong 1 High school

4 Scope of study:

Grade 12 English and Grade 12 High School Students

5 Research methods:

- Group of document research methods: Searching, analyzing, reviewingand generalizing contents related to speaking teaching methods

- Group of practical research methods - Product research methods

- Mathematical statistical methods to process data and research resultscollected in the course of research

PART II CONTENTS

to test students' ability to use the language comprehensively, not justmemorizing vocabulary and grammar The reading comprehension part of theexam includes:

Read and fill out notices and leaflets: Ask students to quickly understandthe concise and highly realistic content

Arrange conversations/letters/paragraphs: Test your ability to organizeideas and understand the flow of text

Blank word reading: Students are required to have knowledge of grammarand vocabulary to choose the right word

Traditional reading comprehension (2 lessons: one 8-sentence lesson, one10-sentence lesson): A comprehensive test of reading ability, from finding themain idea, reasoning, to evaluating the author's point of view

These changes show that the difficulty level of the exam will increase,especially requiring students to have flexible reading skills and know how tograsp information quickly and effectively

Rationale for methods of developing reading comprehension skills

To help students meet the demands of the 2025 National High SchoolGraduation Exam, applying appropriate teaching methods based on foundationaltheories is essential:

 Schema Theory (Anderson & Pearson, 1984) highlights the role of

background knowledge and vocabulary in understanding reading content

 Top-down & Bottom-up Theory (Goodman, 1967) emphasizes

combining overall comprehension with detailed word and sentenceanalysis

 Reading Strategy Theory (Oxford, 1990) promotes strategies like

skimming, scanning, guessing word meaning from context, and inferring crucial for fast and accurate reading

-In practice, teachers should:

 Use diverse, real-life texts (e.g., emails, articles, announcements)

 Train students in quick reading strategies and identifying main ideas.

 Encourage critical thinking and reasoning

 Integrate technology (apps, software, AI tools) to enhance flexiblelearning

These approaches align with the exam’s new requirements and supportstudents in developing both test-taking and real-world English skills

2 Practical basis:

In the school year 2024 – 2025, I am trusted by the school management

to teach English 12A3 The organizational figures of the class I manage are asfollows:

- Total Students: 38

- Female students: 14

In order to be able to do a good job in teaching from the beginning of theyear, I have conducted statistics and learned some advantages and difficulties ofstudents in the classroom so that there are specific directions and actions tobetter educate students

- Aware of the importance of English in exams and in the future, manystudents actively study, take extra courses or study on their own through onlineplatforms

Difficult:

- The application of new orientations in exam questions may make itdifficult for students and teachers to get used to new types of questions in theearly stages

- Many students do not have a solid foundation in English, leading todifficulties in reading and comprehending long or complex structured texts

- Most students tend to read comprehension in a simple way withoutdeveloping the skills of reasoning, guessing meaning from context or criticalthinking

- With the large amount of knowledge of many other subjects, it isdifficult for students to have enough time to practice English readingcomprehension skills in depth

a)Achieved results:

*From the beginning of the school year to be able to consult with NongCong 1 high school administration implementing solutions to develop the ability

to do reading comprehension tests I myself have conducted a number ofinvestigations and actual surveys of the class to have specific bases and data,from which there will be better and more effective solutions

Survey content Number

of students Surveyed

Have the ability to

study and

Secondly, vocabulary and grammar knowledge are limited Some studentsrely on rote memorization without understanding how to apply vocabulary incontext, and they often find it difficult to comprehend complex grammaticalstructures in reading passages

Additionally, students lack fast reading skills and effective timemanagement Many are unfamiliar with techniques like skimming and scanning,causing them to spend too much time on one text

Lastly, teaching methods remain traditional in some cases Limited use oftechnology and insufficient guidance on self-study prevent students fromaccessing diverse resources and fully developing their reading skills

3 Content (solution):

*Solution 1: Develop an effective reading comprehension strategy

As a high school English teacher, I have found that readingcomprehension is always one of the most challenging parts for students Manystudents have problems allocating time, not knowing how to process readingquickly and effectively In the course of teaching, I have experimented withmany methods and found that the application of scientific readingcomprehension strategies helps students significantly improve their ability to dothe test Here are three techniques that I have guided students to applysuccessfully

Skimming – Skimming to get the main idea

Concept: Skimming is a quick reading technique to determine the mainidea of a paper without understanding all the details This technique is useful inreadings of 400-500 words such as in the 2025 National High School GraduationExam

How to do it:

- Read the title of the reading to understand the general topic

- Read the first sentence of each paragraph (which usually contains themain idea)

- Search for keywords that repeat multiple times in the article

- Ignoring unimportant words (articles, adverbs, prepositions, etc.)

Practical examples from mock exams

In the reading material about Homeschooling with the followingparagraph:

"Increasing numbers of parents in the U.S are choosing to teach their children at home In fact, the U.S Department of Education has estimated that

in 1999, about 850,000 children were being homeschooled Some educational experts say that the real number is double this estimate, and the ranks of homeschooled children seem to be growing at the average rate of about eleven percent every year."

Accompanying questions:

Which is the best title for the passage? (Which title is best for readings?)

A Reasons for Homeschooling in the USA (Reasons for homeschooling

in the US).

B The Trend of Homeschooling in the USA (Homeschooling trends in the US).

C Homeschooling - One of the Ways of Education in the USA

(Homeschooling – One of the educational methods in the US).

D Education System in the USA (The education system in the US).

➡ Skimming Application Analysis:

Read the title: There is no clear title, but it is possible to predict the postrelated to education

Đọc câu đầu tiên: "Increasing numbers of parents in the U.S are choosing

to teach their children at home." (Ngày càng nhiều phụ huynh ở Mỹ chọn giáo dục con tại nhà.)

Identify keywords: homeschooling, increasing, growing, trend

Comparison with Answer: Answer B (The Trend of Homeschooling in the USA) is the most relevant because the reading talks about the development of

homeschooling

Scanning – Quick reading to find specific information

Definition: Scanning is a technique that quickly scans text to find aspecific piece of information, such as a metric, proper name, date, or keykeyword

How to do it:

- Determine in advance the information to be searched for (data, name,location, causes, consequences, etc.)

- Use your eyes to quickly scan the passage instead of reading each word

- When you find a keyword, read the sentence containing it carefully toconfirm the information

Practical examples from mock exams

In the reading of the Alaska oil pipeline system, there is the followingparagraph:

"The pipeline is 4 feet in diameter and up to 2 million barrels or 84 million gallons of crude oil can be pumped through it daily."

➡ Scanning Application Analysis:

Keywords to look for: oil, transport, each day.

Scan readings for relevant metrics

Tìm thấy thông tin: "2 million barrels or 84 million gallons of crude oil can be pumped through it daily."

The correct answer is D (84 million gallons)

Guessing meaning from context

Concept: When encountering a new word, instead of looking up adictionary, students can rely on the surrounding words to guess the meaning

How to do it:

- Determine the type of word (noun, verb, adjective )

- Look for grammatical signs or synonyms/antonyms in sentences

- Use background knowledge to deduce the meaning of words

Practical examples from mock exams

The Esperanto language reading has the following sentence:

"Esperanto clubs began popping up throughout Europe."

➡ Phân tích áp dụng Guessing meaning from context:

"Esperanto clubs began " → The story of the emergence of Esperanto

clubs

"Popping up" goes along with "throughout Europe", which means to

appear in many places

The correct answer is D (Opening)

Applying the strategy to the actual test

After instructing the above strategies, I organize practice sessions forstudents The results show:

- Students do the test faster: Reduce the reading time by 30-40%

- More accurate: The percentage of correct answers to readingcomprehension questions increased from 50% to 80%

- More confidence when doing tests: No more confusion whenencountering long readings

Developing a scientific reading comprehension strategy helps studentsapproach the English test more effectively By applying Skimming, Scanningand Guessing meaning from context, students can do the test faster, moreaccurately and get a higher score in the National High School Graduation Exam2025

As a teacher, I always remind students that: "Reading comprehension isnot reading every word, but reading strategically!" If students practice regularlyaccording to this method, there will definitely be a marked improvement in testresults

*Solution 2: Expand vocabulary and grammar in reading

Expanding Thematic Vocabulary

The readings in the exam often revolve around familiar topics such aseducation, technology, environment, health, history, and science If studentshave a rich vocabulary on these topics, it will be easier to understand the readingcontent and answer questions

Methods of learning vocabulary by topic

Using Mind Maps:

- When learning vocabulary on environmental topics, I encourage students

to make mind maps with branches such as:

- Causes: pollution, deforestation, overpopulation

- Consequences: climate change, global warming

- Solution: renewable energy, conservation

Learn vocabulary through practical reading:

When teaching homeschooling readings, I help students memorizeimportant words such as:

- Trend, Education System, Self-Study

- I encourage students to jot down new words after each reading and posesentences with them to reinforce their knowledge

Using flashcards and vocabulary learning apps:

- Students can use apps like Quizlet to practice vocabulary throughflashcards, making memorization more effective

Application of vocabulary in reading comprehension

After learning thematic vocabulary, students need to practice applyingthem in reading comprehension I usually provide reading comprehensionexercises related to the topic I have learned for students to practice

If students have learned the vocabulary of size, they will know that

"massive" means "huge", which is equivalent to "huge" Therefore, the correctanswer is B

Consolidate grammar knowledge in reading comprehension

Grammar helps students understand sentence structure, relationshipsbetween sentence components, and the exact meaning of sentences If students

do not master grammar, they may misunderstand the author's meaning or fail toidentify the information needed to answer the question

Grammar reinforcement methods:

Identify active and passive sentences:

- I teach students how to identify active and passive sentences, helpingthem understand who is taking the action and who is taking the action

Understanding the relationship clause:

- Relationship clauses provide additional information about the noun Iteach students how to recognize and analyze relational clauses to betterunderstand the information in the sentence

Define the reference pronoun:

- Many of the reading questions ask students to identify pronouns such as

"it," "they," or "this" to refer to I teach them how to search for informationbeforehand to identify the right object to which the pronoun is referring

Real-life examples:

In a reading of the Esperanto language, there is a question:

"The pronoun 'it' in paragraph 2 refers to:"

Application to actual exams

To ensure that students can effectively apply their vocabulary andgrammar knowledge to the test, I often organize practice sessions with actualexam questions These exercises not only help students get familiar with theexam structure but also practice time management and apply knowledge inpractice

Effective practice methods

Divide vocabulary and grammar questions in reading

I ask students to read in each type of question such as:

- Questions about synonyms – antonyms

- Questions about reference pronouns

- Questions about sentence structure and relational clauses

Practicing in each form helps students understand each part deeply andavoid confusion when taking the real test

Practice with readings of increasing difficulty

- Initially, I let students read short and simple paragraphs to build afoundation

- Then I gradually increase the difficulty with longer readings and morecomplex structures

- This helps students adapt to the real test without feeling overwhelmed.Practice for mock exams under time pressure

- I set the time to do the test equivalent to the real exam so that studentsget used to the time pressure

- This helps students develop a reasonable time allocation strategy whendoing reading comprehension tests

Practical examples from standardized exam questions

I often encourage students to practice with readings from the official exam

of the National High School Exam or from international English exams such asTOEFL, IELTS, SAT Here are some practical examples:

Example 1: Vocabulary question – find synonyms

Reading (excerpt from the mock exam):

"The invention of the Internet has revolutionized the way people communicate and exchange information The rapid development of technology has facilitated global connectivity, making it easier for individuals and businesses to interact across continents."

Câu hỏi: What does the word "facilitated" in the passage mean?

If students have learned vocabulary on the topic of technology, they will

realize that facilitated means making it easier, which means "simplified".

The correct answer is B Simplified

Example 2: Reference Question

Reading (excerpt from the mock exam):

"Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, have gained popularity in recent years These alternatives to fossil fuels offer a sustainable solution to the growing energy crisis However, some critics argue that they are not yet efficient enough to replace traditional energy sources entirely."

Câu hỏi: The word "they" in the passage refers to…

Consider the previous noun that "they" can represent

In the previous sentence, "these alternatives to fossil fuels" refers to

renewable energy sources

Therefore, "they" in the following sentence must also refer to renewableenergy sources

The correct answer is C Renewable energy sources

Example 3: Inference Question

Reading (excerpt from the mock exam):

"With the rise of artificial intelligence, many industries are experiencing significant changes While automation increases efficiency, it also raises concerns about job displacement and ethical considerations Despite these challenges, experts believe that AI will ultimately lead to new job opportunities and economic growth."

Câu hỏi: What can be inferred from the passage?

A AI will completely replace human workers in all industries

B AI has both positive and negative impacts on society

C The development of AI is slowing down